Kyrie Irving trade came after LeBron told Cavs to "bring him to camp"

There are layers upon layers to the Cleveland Cavaliers drama-filled 2017-2018 season. In what has turned out to be the NBA’s biggest reality show, yet another tale of dysfunction and distrust from Keeping Up With The Kavs has slipped through the cracks.

“Bring him to camp,” James told the Cavs. He was confident he could repair whatever damage Irving felt was done to their relationship. But Irving made clear to Gilbert and the Cavaliers he wanted out of Cleveland because he did not want to play another minute with James, one source told The Athletic. Given how close Irving and James were to the ends of their contracts, the Cavs chose to move Irving while they believed he still had peak value.

James’ insistence that the team keep Irving despite his trade request sheds light on a very real reason Irving wanted to leave Cleveland: the authoritative element of James’ personality. It’s telling that Irving would want to leave a championship contender after giving such high praise to James at the end of the 2017 NBA Finals.

At the point in the offseason when Irving was traded, the Cavs had refused to re-sign general manager David Griffin and struck out on hiring NBA analyst and former NBA player Chauncey Billups for the position. Irving and Kevin Love’s names had also started to pop up in the rumor mill as the Cleveland Cavaliers looked for more athletic players to compliment James.

Those were likely factors that weighed into Irving’s decision as well, as front office instability and trade rumors have a way of repelling players. In the end, Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics for a trade package of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Irving has led the Boston Celtics to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, thus far. He looks like a more complete player than he did in Cleveland and is shooting a career high 48.6 percent from the field (40.2 percent from three-point range) while averaging 24.9 points per game.

Thomas’ struggles in replacing Irving’s presence on the Cavs have been a major topic of conversation, with the point guard averaging just 15.2 points per game while shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 23.7 percent from three-point range.

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